Rising Sun

“I have nothing to say,” Morton said. “Tapes can be edited and changed and then changed again. It doesn’t mean anything. This is all lies and baseless allegation.”

“I’m sorry, Senator,” Co

Morton stood up and began to pace. “I want to impress upon you gentlemen the severity of the charges that you are considering. Tapes can be altered. These particular tapes have been in the custody of a Japanese corporation which, it could be argued, has a wish to exert influence over me. Whatever they may or may not show, I assure you they will not stand up to scrutiny. The public will clearly see this as an attempt to blacken the name of one of the few Americans willing to speak up against the Japanese threat. And as far as I am concerned, you two are pawns in the hands of foreign powers. You don’t understand the consequences of your actions. You are making damaging allegations without proof. You have no witnesses to anything that may allegedly have happened. In fact, I would even say—“

“Senator.” Co

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Just look, Senator. If you would, please.”

Snorting angrily, Morton strode to the window and looked down at the studio. I looked too. I saw the reporters swiveling in their chairs, laughing and joking with each other as they waited to ask questions. I saw the moderator, adjusting his tie and clipping on his mike. I saw a workman wiping the shiny sign that said NEWSMAKERS. And in the corner, standing right where we had told him to stand, I saw a familiar figure with his hands in his pockets, looking up at us.

Eddie Sakamura.

26

Of course Co

“I’ve been here all day,” Eddie said. He sounded put out. “You guys. Never come here. I wait and wait. Have a peanut butter jelly sandwich with Shelly. You have nice girl, Lieutenant. Cute girl.”

“Eddie is fu

“I see that,” I said. I felt slow and stupid. I was still trying to understand.

My daughter came over and held her arms up. “Pick me up, Daddy.” I picked her up.

“Very nice girl,” Eddie said. “We made a windmill. See?” He spun the spokes of the Tinkertoy. “Works.”

I said, “I thought you were dead.”

“Me?” He laughed. “No. Never dead. Tanaka dead. Mess hell out of my car, too.” He shrugged. “I have bad luck with Ferraris.”

“So does Tanaka,” Co

I said, “Tanaka?”

Michelle said, “Daddy, can I watch Cinderella?”

“Not right now,” I said. “Why was Tanaka in the car?”

“Panicky guy,” Eddie said. “Very nervous guy. Maybe guilty, too. Must have got scared, I don’t know for sure.”

Co

“Yes. Sure. Right after. Ishiguro says to Tanaka: Get the tapes. So Tanaka gets them. Sure. But I know Tanaka, so I go along. Tanaka takes them to some lab.”

Co

“I know Ishiguro sends some men, to clean up. I don’t know who.”

“And you went to the restaurant.”

“Sure, yes. Then I went to the party. Rod’s party. No problem.”

“And what about the tapes, Eddie?”

“I told you. Tanaka takes them. I don’t know where. He’s gone. He works for Ishiguro. For Nakamoto.”

“I understand,” Co

Eddie gave a crooked grin. “Hey.”

“You kept some?”

“No. Just one. Just a mistake, you know. In my pocket.” He smiled.

Michelle said, “Daddy, can I watch Disney cha

“Sure,” I said. I put her down. “Elaine will help you.”

My daughter went away. Co

“I don’t know for sure, but after I talk to you, I figure they set me up. We have a big argument.”

“And then the police came. Graham came.”

Eddie nodded slowly. “Tanaka-san shit a brick. Hey! He’s unhappy Japanese man.”

“So you made him tell you everything…”

“Oh yeah, Captain. He tells me very fast—“

“And in return you told him where the missing tape was.”

“Sure. In my car. I give him the keys. So he can unlock it. He has the keys.”

Tanaka had gone into the garage to get the tape. The patrolmen downstairs ordered him to halt. He started the car and drove off.

“I watch him go, John. Drives like shit.”

So it had been Tanaka who was driving the car when it hit the embankment. It was Tanaka who had burned to death. Eddie explained that he hid in the shrubbery behind the swimming pool and waited until everybody left.

“Cold as shit out there,” he said.

I said to Co

“I suspected. The reports of the crash said that the body was badly burned, and that even the glasses had melted.”

Eddie said, “Hey, I don’t wear glasses.”

“Exactly,” Co

“Hey, pretty good,” Eddie said. “Smart.”

I said, “Where were you, all this time?”

“At Jasmine’s house. Very nice house.”

“Who’s Jasmine?”

“Redhead number. Very nice woman. Got a Jacuzzi, too.”

“But why did you come here?”

Co

“Right,” Eddie said. “And me, I have your business card. You give me. Home address and phone. I need my passport, Lieutenant. I got to go now. So I come here, and wait. And holy shit, all the reporters. Cameras. Everything. So I stay low, play with Shelly.” He lit a cigarette, turned nervously. “So. What do you say, Lieutenant? How about you give me my passport? Netsutuku. No harm done. I’m dead anyway. Okay?”

“Not just yet,” Co

“Come on, John.”

“Eddie, you have to do a little job first.”

“Hey. What job? I got to go, Captain.”

“Just one job, Eddie.”

Morton took a deep breath, and turned away from the studio window. I had to admire his self-control. He seemed completely calm. “It appears,” he said, “that my options at this moment are somewhat reduced.”

“Yes, Senator,” Co

He sighed. “You know it was an accident. It really was.”

Co

“I don’t know what it was about her,” Morton said. “She was beautiful, of course, but it wasn’t… it wasn’t that. I only met her a short time ago. Four, five months ago. I thought she was a nice girl. Texas girl, sweet. But it was… one of those things. It just happened. She had this way of getting under your skin. It was crazy. Unexpected. I started to think about her all the time. I couldn’t… she would call me, when I was on a trip. She would find out when I was on a trip, somehow. And pretty soon, I couldn’t tell her to stay away. I couldn’t. She always seemed to have money, always had a plane ticket. She was crazy. Sometimes, she would make me so mad. It was like my… I don’t know. Demon. Everything changed when she was around. Crazy. I had to stop seeing her. And eventually I had the feeling she was paid for. Someone was paying her. Someone knew all about her. And me. So I had to stop it. Bob told me. Hell, everybody in the office told me. I couldn’t. Finally I did. It was over. But when I came to that reception, there she was. Shit.” He shook his head. “It just happened. What a mess.”